Sheriff’s deputy charged in beating of restrained inmate

April 4, 2019

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A sheriff’s deputy of Davidson County, Tennessee, has been charged with assaulting a restrained inmate who hit him with a bag of laundry.

News outlets report 46-year-old Corporal Kenneth Traylor II surrendered to authorities Tuesday and was released after posting bail. The sheriff’s office said Wednesday that the January assault was “an excessive use of force.”

An arrest affidavit says 25-year-old inmate Darrell Mintow was wearing a “handcuff-bellychain with locks and leg irons,” and that the deputy’s version of events wasn’t supported by video evidence.

The video shows Traylor escorting Mintow through the county maximum correctional center when Mintow hits him in the head with a mesh bag. Traylor is then seen tackling Mintow to the ground where beats him.